Associated PressRep. James Clayburn, D-S.C., left, the House assistant Democratic leader, and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, attend the first organizational meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the so-called "super committee, " on Capitol Hill in Washington.

As chair of the energy and commerce committee and one of 12 "super committee" members, Congressman Fred Upton, R - St. Joseph, has been busy in the past couple months.

Here are some links from national news sources about Upton's recent activities on the hill.

"SUPER COMMITTEE" PROSPECTS DIM: As the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has 19 days to reach an agreement on how to eliminate $1.5 trillion from the budget, hopes of a bipartisan plan seem to be slipping.

Upton told Politico on Thursday that both Republicans and
Democrats have sent pieces of separate proposals to the Congressional Budget
Office. The office will then score a plan for its budgetary impact early
this month.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to have to use the dials and see where things are,” Upton said in the story.

It was the hope of many members that they could agree on one plan to submit to the CBO in early November to meet their Nov. 23 deadline. That deal would then have to be approved by both the House and the Senate in an up or down vote by Dec. 23.

"Republicans won’t give on increasing tax-based revenue and are insisting on savings from health-based entitlement programs. And Democrats say there can’t be a deal on entitlement cuts without more revenues," the Politico story reads.

If the super committee does not reach an agreement, or if Congress does not approve their deal, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts would go into effect.

On Friday, members of the super committee tried to diffuse growing skepticism that they could not reach a deal, according to Politico.

ENERGY COMMERCE COMMITTEE VOTES TO SUBPOENA WHITE HOUSE: Upton has long been an opponent of Solyndra. On Thursday, the Energy and Commerce Committee subpoenaed the White House over its involvement with the company.

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On Thursday, Upton's subcommittee supoenoed documents from the White House on its involvement with the now bankrupt solar panel manufacturer.

In 2009 the California based company got a $535-million loan guarantee from the federal government as part of the stimulus program.

In August, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. The debate over the company, which could cost tax payers around a half-billion dollars, renews the argument over Obama's stimulus program.

Since the company announced the bankruptcy, Republicans have called for an investigation. On Wednesday, the White House released 20,000 pages of documents, according to the LA Times. Republicans said they were redundant.

After Upton's oversight and investigations subcommittee voted on party lines to approve the subpoena, Upton appeared on Fox News on Thursday night.

"It seems like we've been trying to extract teeth without anesthesia in terms of trying to get the right documents," Upton said on Lou Dobbs.

Upton said he wants to get the information to find out what happened and correct what is going wrong.

On the contrary, Upton's Michigan counterpart on the left, John Dingell, D-Dearborn, said, calling the authorization “a fishing expedition,” according to the New York Times.